EDITOR'S NOTE: Comments in the original post attributed to Councilman Jack Herbst should have been attributed to council President Dan Chiavaroli. This post has been adjusted to reflect that.

Nazareth Borough Council's police committee agreed to recommend that the borough advertise for more police officers to address staffing issues on its force, but insisted that officials hire only part-timers.

The borough should not commit to hiring full-time police officers, because officials are still are negotiating with other local police departments to consolidate, according to council President Dan Chiavaroli.

Nazareth employed six full-time officers, besides the chief, as of six years ago. Since Chief Thomas Trachta has headed the department, he said he's had his staff whittled away from him.

"I've been running this department for two years on three cops, and now I’m down to two cops,” Trachta said. “I really need to get back to at least six full-time cops. We can’t function like this."

Although he said the department needs at least six full-time officers, Trachta said ideally the borough needs 10. Nazareth recently hired four new part-timers, but only two of them worked out, he said.

Police committee members did not specify how many part-timers they would recommend council hire, but more than one mentioned hiring a pair of new officers to make up for the two that did not work out.

Councilman Charles Donello said hiring new full-timers would not be fair in the face of possible consolidation.

“I don’t think council is looking at hiring anybody until we know exactly where we stand,” he said. “You know it and everybody knows it, (consolidation is) still a very good possibility.”

When Trachta asked Chiavaroli if the borough was still considering merging with Colonial Regional Police or Upper Nazareth Township, the councilman would not offer specifics.

“The council is 100 percent looking for an alternative to what we have,” Chiavaroli said.

Though Trachta said he’s "desperate" for officers, he has his doubts about the efficiency of part-time officers.

“With a full-timer, I tell them when to work,” Trachta said. “With part-timers, I can tell them when they work, but they’ll tell me, 'I can’t, because I work at (my other job) that day.’”

Trachta complained of a hiring process that he said kept him from participating. In June, the borough agreed to hire four new part-time officers, but the chief said he didn’t meet them face-to-face until after they were sworn in.

He also asked for more detail about contract negotiations, but none was forthcoming. Full-time officers received letters about contract extensions, and Trachta said he is having trouble dealing with the spread of rumors.